BAGHDAD, 24 July 2005 — Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility yesterday for the kidnap of the chief of the Algerian mission in Baghdad, stepping up pressure on the new government struggling to quell relentless guerrilla violence.

“Algeria rushed to obey the crusaders by sending its envoy to Iraq...did you not learn from the fate of the ambassador of the Egyptian tyrant?” asked the statement on an Islamist website frequently used by the group led by Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq.

Algerian mission chief Ali Belaroussi, 62, and attache Azzedine Belkadi, 47, were snatched by gunmen in Baghdad on Thursday near the north African country’s mission.

“A Foreign Ministry crisis cell is active and we are closely following the situation. But right now we have no comment (on Al-Qaeda’s statement),” Algeria’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdelhamid Chebchoub said.

The statement did not mention the kidnapping of the attache Belkadi. Al-Qaeda in Iraq earlier this month kidnapped and killed Egyptian mission chief Ihab El-Sherif.

The killing of the Egyptian diplomat and kidnapping of the Algerian envoy suggest Al-Qaeda may be widening its deadly campaign in Iraq.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi, has warned Muslims against cooperating with the Baghdad government.

The violence has dealt another blow to the new Iraqi government’s efforts to improve ties with other Arab states and show it can put an end to suicide bombings, kidnappings and shootings.

In its statement, Al-Qaeda boasted about how it snatched the Algerian diplomat in what it said was one of Baghdad’s most heavily guarded neighborhoods.

“Your brothers in the Al-Qaeda Organization in Iraq are continuing their holy war against the enemies of God,” the statement said. “This (Algeria) is yet another country that does not obey the rule of God and is a tyrant of this age.” More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Yesterday, Indian businessman Singh Jan was stabbed as gunmen tried to kidnap him, hospital officials said. Iraqi police said gunmen stole $150,000 from his office.